Thanks for this. I want to play chess with the kids, but really haven't found a satisfactory way to do it. Removing my pieces means I'm not playing chess (as you describe) and makes me play hard to catch back up, so they get the upsetting position of just losing ground. Limiting myself on time is a good idea, but I still win every time, unless I pull the clock down so low I lose every time on time. For a while I had success with playing alternate moves with my youngest against my eldest. My youngest's effectively random moves averaged with mine were a pretty good match for my eldest's (plus hints). I've also had some success letting them 'trick me' in an opening like fried liver and then providing enough hints for them to keep their advantage.
That's a nice plan about the 'tricking you' into an opening or similar, once they're a little better.
Probably much as you've done, I'll persist in teaching just as 'teaching', but it's particularly nice when you get to a stage where a game can genuinely be played (even with handicaps), which is tricky for chess.
Chess seems to making a comeback, at least in this little corner of Vermont! There is a thriving chess club at my boys' school (and it's not a private school) that meets fortnightly through the winter and probably about 16-20 children aged 8-12 come. They've basically figured out each other's level and pair up in a reasonable even match and it seems that most children are winning some and losing some. So, that can be one strategy - just have the children figure it out amongst themselves. I've never seen people enthuse so much about chess...
Other than that, I definitely do the not-putting-too-much-thought-into-it strategy, still win but makes it closer. What demoralises them are the routs (where you beat them in like 9 moves).
Finally, I had the pleasure of having an electronic Kasparov chess set when little (it still works!). This moves you up from Level 1 to 8, and therefore, while you're trying to beat the machine, you're also trying to beat yourself. This was really effective and means you're not constantly bugging someone else to play with you.
Ultimately though, I've run with the strategy of just having the children play for fun and not really to try and work on developing their skill in it. Maybe that's lazy, or maybe that's fine given their age?
Thanks for this. I want to play chess with the kids, but really haven't found a satisfactory way to do it. Removing my pieces means I'm not playing chess (as you describe) and makes me play hard to catch back up, so they get the upsetting position of just losing ground. Limiting myself on time is a good idea, but I still win every time, unless I pull the clock down so low I lose every time on time. For a while I had success with playing alternate moves with my youngest against my eldest. My youngest's effectively random moves averaged with mine were a pretty good match for my eldest's (plus hints). I've also had some success letting them 'trick me' in an opening like fried liver and then providing enough hints for them to keep their advantage.
That's a nice plan about the 'tricking you' into an opening or similar, once they're a little better.
Probably much as you've done, I'll persist in teaching just as 'teaching', but it's particularly nice when you get to a stage where a game can genuinely be played (even with handicaps), which is tricky for chess.
Chess seems to making a comeback, at least in this little corner of Vermont! There is a thriving chess club at my boys' school (and it's not a private school) that meets fortnightly through the winter and probably about 16-20 children aged 8-12 come. They've basically figured out each other's level and pair up in a reasonable even match and it seems that most children are winning some and losing some. So, that can be one strategy - just have the children figure it out amongst themselves. I've never seen people enthuse so much about chess...
Other than that, I definitely do the not-putting-too-much-thought-into-it strategy, still win but makes it closer. What demoralises them are the routs (where you beat them in like 9 moves).
Finally, I had the pleasure of having an electronic Kasparov chess set when little (it still works!). This moves you up from Level 1 to 8, and therefore, while you're trying to beat the machine, you're also trying to beat yourself. This was really effective and means you're not constantly bugging someone else to play with you.
Ultimately though, I've run with the strategy of just having the children play for fun and not really to try and work on developing their skill in it. Maybe that's lazy, or maybe that's fine given their age?
That's great it's making a comeback in Vermont! Definitely agree that if kids can play each other somewhere that's the best.
The little Kasparov chess set sounds quite similar to what I do with the computer, though it sounds like a particularly neat device.